They played the last game at Shea Stadium yesterday – no doubt it left a bitter taste in all Met’s fans mouths. My condolences go out to the likes of Jack Kelley, Glenn Thomas, Al McNeil and of course Carmine!

Al McNeil, one of the biggest Mets fans I know sent me a great essay on his beloved Metropolitans and how he would’ve liked to seen the last day at Shea celebrated.

Shea's last day
Who should be there:
Ed Kranepool's DNA is in the cement of Shea Stadium. A native New
Yorker, an original Met, here should be there.
Gary Cohen & Howie Rose, who went from listening to Met games on
transistor radios to being the voices of Met radio, should be the Co- Masters of
Ceremony.
Of course Buddy Harrelson has to be there. The dirt between 2nd and
third belongs to him as far as I am concerned.
Cleon Jones has to enter from beyond left field. When Cleon caught the
last out in '69 and briefly went to one knee, it was as if he knew that this
was a moment for the ages. And it was.
Kevin McReynolds and Juan Samuel should not be allowed in Queens on this
night. If George Foster is within city limits, the NYPD should be under
standing orders to detain him and escort him outside of New York City.
Lenny & Wally have to be introduced together. They are like Lemmon
& Matthau, you can't think of one without the other.
From left-center-and right, here's what should happen: We show
Endy's catch robbin' Rolen in Game 7; Followed by Tommie Agee's two
amazin' catches against the Orioles and Rocky Swoboda's miracle diving
catch from '69 as well.
Then Endy and Swoboda arm -in arm with Tommie's widow emerge from
center field. We then cut to one of the Sign Man's Original signs: The
Letter "D" with a picture of a Fence
The Sign Man Karl Ehrhardt was as much as a fixture at Shea as the mound.
Some of his Greatest Signs:
After Frank Taveras made an error: "Look Ma, No Hands"
When Jose Cardenal would strike out "Jose, Can You See?"
And the greatest sign of all, after the last out in '69: "There
Are No Words"
Let's have his Signs raised to the crowd at Shea one more time.
Speaking of the Sign Man, Met fans were the first fans in the world to
bring banners to games. Remember banner day at Shea? It was an endless parade
of creativity by die-hard Met fans. On the last day, the field should be ringed
with banners from Met fans.
I want to hear a 93 year old Jane Jarvis play the organ one more time.
I want a moment of silence for the greatest Mets fan ever: Doris from
Rego Park.
Bill Shea's tireless work to bring National League Baseball back to
New York should be recognized. His family should have any seats they want at
"The Gil"
I want Mrs. Bob Murphy escorted out to the field by Jose Reyes.
Mrs.Hodges shall be escorted by David Wright. Bouquets of flowers for both women.
I want to hear Murph's voice say "GETS BY BUCKNER!" one more
time.
Remember what Ralph said to Murph during Murph's last broadcast:
For Murphy's finale, the Mets reunited him on television with Kiner.
At one point, Kiner said to Murphy, ''Remember when you said, 'Bob
Aspromonte's parents are here, and they're high and
outside?'''
To me, Kiner's Korner was the best show in television history.
(Narrowly beating out "The White Shadow".) In all of our Shea
adventures, we never got to the Kiner's Korner's set. It's a major
regret in my life.
Ralph is an original Met and beloved by all Met fans. He gets a seat of
honor.
One of Lindsey Nelson's Sports Coats should be on display.
Mike Piazza will be there. He should be introduced as "the greatest
hitting catcher of all time MIKE PIAZZA!" I always want Mike announced
that way, until you can show me a catcher who was a better hitter.
Bobby V. should be there. Is it me, or does Bobby V's accomplishments
grow stronger, given the perspective of time & distance?
Tom Glavine is not invited. In fact, all of Glavine's statistics
should be deleted from Met history.
Ray Knight should come back as a conquering hero.
How can you have a last day at Shea without Felix Milan? Or John Stearns?
You can't.
The next two Mets are beloved by all Met fans. Just saying their names
brings a smile to all Met fans: Mookie & Rusty. They will have a rightful
place on Shea's last day.
We also need some Mets to boo on our last day. Doug Sisk, Mel Rojas,
Armando Benitez and John Franco, your invitations have been sent out.
Tell Bobby Bo as well.
Gary & Keith have to come out together. With Davey. Frank Cashen
should be with them.
Its funny how time works. A whole new generation of Met fans see Keith as
an announcer, and not a player.
Darryl & Doc have to come out together. Darryl is back with us, and I
think that is great. They did not leave under the best of circumstances, but
let them hear for the last time a Shea roar in their honor.
Let that be their last memory of Shea.
Leiter & Cone have gone over to the dark side. No need to bring them
back.
The Kooz should be there. He's one of the most underrated pitchers of
all time. The guy won over 200 games with Don Hahn and George Theodore hitting
in the middle of the lineup, for Christ sakes.
If he can make bail, by all means Kevin Mitchell should be there.
Bring on the arms: Sid, Bobby O, & Ronnie.
Bring in the Firemen: Jesse & Roger.
Bring on our lovable 70's Mets: Maz, Steve Henderson, Youngblood
& Flynn.
I want a video tribute to the spiritual heart of the Mets, Tug McGraw. YA
GOTTA BELIEVE! Met fans wouldn't have it any other way.
I want an honor guard to lower the 1973 NL Pennant Flag and I want to give it to Tug's
family.
The Franchise. Tom Terrific. The greatest pitcher in New York City
History. The man elected to the Hall of Fame with the highest percentage of
votes ever. Our first, undisputed, no doubt about it, superstar.
Tom Seaver. He comes out alone.
The honor guard will take down the 1969 World Champion Flag and hand it to Tom. Tom will take it and present it to Mrs.
Hodges for safekeeping. It's only right.
At some point, parachute man has to make his arrival. Remember when that
crazy fella landed during the World Series? It was proof that Met fans are
certifiable. Only at Shea I tell you.
I want to see a video of the great playoff walk off home runs by the
Todd's: Zeile & Pratt. Plus the grand slam- single by Robin Ventura.
And don't forget Lenny's walk off aganist the Astros. Let's
see that again. And Piazza's post 9-11 game winner.
Let the last pitch at Shea be Seaver to Piazza. Can any team claim an all
-time better battery? I don't think so. Whitey to Yogi? Please. They were
not as good. As Casey used to say "You can look it up."
Pete Flynn can shut out the lights.
And the voice of Bob Murphy can provide us with a happy recap.......

We all have our own story regarding the tragic events that happened on 9/11. I was sent this story/ link/event by a loyal reader of Container Diaries about an off-duty fireman, Stephen Siller who walked through the tunnel to get to the World Trade Center as it was burning down.

This looks like a great event! The race is Sunday so if you can. get out and get running!

Stephen Siller, beloved husband and father of five, was a firefighter from Squad 1, Park Slope Brooklyn. On 9/11, he was off-duty, and on his way to golf with his 3 older brothers.

When Stephen heard on his scanner that the World Trade Center had been hit, he turned his vehicle around and headed towards the site. When his truck was prohibited from entering the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, typically of him, he raced on foot towards the site with his gear strapped to his back.

He was last seen alive on West and Liberty Streets where he, more than likely, went looking for his Squad, all of whom perished. The Tunnel to Towers Run retraces Stephen’s footsteps on that fateful day.

In running along his path, we honor the memory of all the Firefighters, Police, and EMS workers who performed their duty that day. In running this race, we are reclaiming still another part of the city for all our heroes and for all of those who died on 9/11.

Early in the week I asked for someone to send me the cover of either paper, News or Post with the Yankee Stadium image. Thanks to Tony F, I am sitting pretty with a sweet image. I am going to frame it for sure. He sent the pull-out special section – the Cover is off the chain!

Thanks TF.

Now, I know this is asking a lot, but does someone still have the Daily News pull-out section from Monday? I have two friends who are big time Yankees fans out here in Michigan and I would like to frame the image and give it to them.

Last night as I stopped off at Bob Evans for some pancakes (who calls them ‘Hotcakes’?) I noticed at the counter while paying the check some neatly stacked bagged candy. Looking over their selection, I noticed something I use to consume as a youngster – waxed bottles with fruit juice!

After paying the check, I quickly snatched a bag off the rack and handed over $1.59.

I brought them home hoping to surprise Taylor but by the time I arrived, she was sound asleep.

This morning I surprised her with the waxed treat and she looked at it kind of strange.

“What is it” She asked as she took the bag from me and observed the contents.

“Bite off the top and suck down the juice.” I answered.

She looked at my wife who was getting dressed for work.

“Go ahead Tay, try it.” My wife said.

I must say it was the first time Taylor questioned my gift to her.

‘What’s your favorite flavor daddy?” Taylor asked.

“Orange”, I replied.

She finally gave in and bit the top of the bottle and sucked down the juice. Not before she spit the wax out. ‘Gimme that, I use to chew that’! I said.

“MMMMMMM” she said as she reached for another (orange flavored wax bottle)

After downing two, she grabbed the plastic bag, folded it and promptly placed it in her bookbag.

Tuned in last night to watch the last game played at Yankee Stadium. ESPN did a fantastic job of their coverage which actually started in the afternoon. (Note to ESPN – your guy Karl Ravitch asked John Kruk, ‘if you’re someone who is flipping the stations and you stumble upon this, and you don’t know anything about Yankee Stadium, what do you tell them’?) Fella’s, that’s lame – whose never heard of Yankee Stadium?

If you watched, and you saw/heard the ovation former Yankee outfielder Bernie Williams received, you should get chills thinking about it right now!

Growing up as a young kid on 9th avenue, I wasn’t a Yankee fan. In my early days I rooted for the Mets and then in 1976, I followed the Kansas City Royals so you can imagine my pain. I was a big George Brett fan (I will never forgive him for not giving me an autograph)

I’ll never forget Chris Chambliss hitting that towering walk-off homer against Mark Littell in the bottom of the 9th to win Game 5 the 1976 ALCS. (Hal McRae, you couldn’t jump a little higher at the wall?)

Jimmy Cullen’s Aunt Margie use to score tickets right behind the Yankees dugout and he’d take me every now and then. I used to be in awe when the Royals came to town. One afternoon we attended a Yankees-Red Sox showdown and Marge’s tickets placed us in the second row. During the game, Lou Piniella drew a base on ball. There happened to be four Red Sox fans in front of us screaming at Sweet Lou as he walked down the first baseline. Piniella, hearing these clowns screamed right back at them, pointing at them telling all four that he is gonna kick their asses. A few Yankees climbed out of the dugout to see who Lou was screaming at.

I was scared!

I was in the house in 1983 when Brett hit that shot off of Goose Gossage and they said GB 5 had too much pin-tar on his bat. The two clubs picked up where they left off later in the summer and yours truly was there for that too.

A couple of years before that Brett ripped a Gossage fastball into the right field seats to finally top the Yankees in the playoffs after New York had beat them three straight years. (76, 77 and 78)

Did Brett OWN Gossage or what?

Getting to the Stadium was simple. Hop the ‘F’ at 15th street, take it to West 4th to transfer for the ‘D’ and you were in the Boogie Down in no time. Before entering the ballpark, we always made sure to stop and watch the run at the basketball courts, we’d try and get a peek at the players coming in via the players entrance and of course, a quick trip to Manny’s.

We spent a lot of time during the summer up in Greenwood Lake and our way back, if I was lucky enough to get a ride we would pass the Stadium on the Major Deegan Expressway. I would stare out the window and look up in awe at the white sign that always listed the upcoming game.

Hanging with Joe Lee in left field watching batting practice two hours before the game and trying to out-race other kids for baseballs hit over the fence.

Sitting in the bleachers with the guy who use to bang the drum, compliments of Con Edison of course; sitting behind third base with Chris Robinson and Timmy Kemp’s brother watching Dave Righetti’s no-no, and of course the day Eddie Cush, the Cullen’s and myself met up with the ‘Clangers’ outside of Manny’s.

Public address announcer Bob Sheppard, Eddie Layton on the organ and the guy selling programs outside the Stadium are Yankee voices that will be in my head the rest of my life. I use to love and try to imitate Sheppard’s voice while he did the line-ups before the game, ‘Now batting…

WPIX had the games at night with the Scooter, Bill White and Fran Messer.

Love ’em or hate ’em, the New York Yankees are the best organization in sports. History, memories, and fans, there’s none better. They have the titles and attendance to back the argument.

They are packing up their belongings and moving across the street, time will tell if the same feeling comes over you when you enter through the new gates; one thing is for sure, Yankee Pride will live on!

“Just about everybody was male and everybody seemed to be drinking beer in tall white foam cups. Farrell’s smells like beer, has a hardwood floor, and neon Budweiser signs and an American flag in the windows.”

-Lynne Miller, New York Daily News writer

This morning, after dropping Taylor off at an American Girl Doll get together, I ventured over to the campus of Michigan State University to take in the men’s basketball open gym. Former and current players along with recruits play a couple of hours of pick up basketball (for those who don’t know, I worked on the coaching staff at MSU from 1999-2001)

When it was over, I met up with guys like Mateen Cleaves, Steve Smith and the likes. I left and made my way to a very good breakfast joint about a mile away.

Today was a big day for Michigan State Spartan fans here in East Lansing – it was a home game vs Notre Dame.

As I walked through campus, everywhere you looked, people were tailgating.

Beer, loud music, crazy looking games and food were the norm.

Spartan fans showed their school spirit sporting their favorite t-shirts and hats. Some even paint their mugs.

It’s safe to say, College football is big-time in this town.

The thought of college football and the fans brought me back to the days of growing up on 9th avenue; we didn’t have a college football team to root for.

Think about that – we had the Jets and Giants from the NFL, that was it. (Shut up, I know we had Farrell’s and McBears, kicking ass, but that was SUNDAYS!)

For the lucky college grads from the neighborhood, they had Iona, Fordham and St. John’s. Shoot, we even had Columbia. (To all you S.F.C. Terrier graduates, you didn’t have a team)

Hofstra has made strides over the years, but back in the day, I don’t ever recall seeing them on the map!

Rutgers? Nah, I can’t count them…

As a kid, I often filled out football tickets (or sheets) down in Timboo’s and tried to pick four college teams to cover the spread – I only hit the ticket a couple of times. I’d pick teams like Utah, Syracuse, Nebraska and USC. We’d watch the game, check the scroll at the bottom of the screen and even call Sports Phone every 20 minutes; remember King Wally?

(Sorry, Syracuse doesn’t count as a favorite team to root for, they were located too far up North)

I did adopt the University of Oklahoma though. I loved Barry Switzer and his wishbone offense. Those guys were the real deal.

Their quarterbacks were speed demons. Their running backs, well let’s just say they were human gazelles.

Back in the day I was able to watch them maybe twice or three times per year on television. Today, If I were still a Sooner fan, I’d probably get all their games on the Dish and I’d be able to follow them via the Internet.

School spirit is special – I graduated from Central Michigan University in 2003 and my interest has grown for their program – my my lovable Chips! They have a really good QB this year.

As I see little kids tossing around the pigskin in East Lansing, rocking Spartan jersey’s, it would’ve been cool to own a college jersey and feel like a big time college football player, rooting for a team in my hometown.

“Just about everybody was male and everybody seemed to be drinking beer in tall white foam cups. Farrell’s smells like beer, has a hardwood floor, and neon Budweiser signs and an American flag in the windows.”

-Lynne Miller, New York Daily News writer

Here’s a great video put together by Windsor Terrace’s own Mike Purdy.